Hatch then gained a starring role in Glen A. Larson's sci-fi series, Battlestar Galactica (1978), which aired for a single season before cancellation. Hatch was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the role.[2][1]

Throughout the 1980s, Hatch made guest appearances on such series as Hotel, Murder She Wrote, The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island. In 1984, he appeared in several episodes of Dynasty, which was at the top of the ratings at the time. In 1990, Hatch returned to daytime soap operas and appeared on Santa Barbara, originating the character Steven Slade. He continued to make guest appearances on prime time series such as Jake and the Fatman and Baywatch, but roles were becoming few and far between. His next prominent role would be as Tom Zarek in the reimagined version of Battlestar Galactica, in which he made semi-regular appearances from 2004-09.[1]

Hatch attempted to revive Battlestar Galactica. In the 1990s, he began writing novels based on the series, and also wrote, co-directed and executive-produced a trailer called The Second Coming in the hopes of enticing Universal Studios (the rights holders for the franchise) into producing a new series that would have been a direct continuation of the original 1978 series (ignoring the events of the failed spin-off Galactica 1980, in which Hatch did not appear). Original actors John Colicos (Baltar), Terry Carter (Col. Tigh) and Jack Stauffer (Bojay) appeared in the trailer with Hatch. Although the trailer won acclaim at science-fiction conventions, Universal was not interested in Hatch's vision to revive Battlestar Galactica, and instead opted for a remake rather than the sequel for which Hatch had campaigned. Hatch (who claimed to have remortgaged his house to make the trailer) was bitterly disappointed by this turn of events and was highly critical of the prospective new series on his website.[citation needed]

In 2004, he stated to Sci-Fi Pulse that he had felt resentment over the failure of his planned Galactica continuation and was left "exhausted and sick... I had, over the past several years, bonded deeply with the original characters and story... writing the novels and the comic books and really campaigning to bring back the show".[citation needed]

Despite his resentment, Hatch developed a respect for Ronald D. Moore, the new series' writer and producer, when Moore appeared as a featured guest at Galacticon (the Battlestar Galactica 25th anniversary convention, hosted by Hatch) and answered questions posed by a very hostile audience.[3] Later, in 2004, Hatch was offered a recurring role in the new Battlestar Galactica series, which he accepted. He played Tom Zarek, a terrorist turned politician who spent twenty years in prison for blowing up a government building. After Zarek's death, Hatch commented that "never did I play this character as a villain nor did I think he was one and I still feel that way", and that he considered the character to be a principled figure who is driven to violence after being "blocked in every way possible" by Roslin and Adama. "Zarek, Adama and Roslin all wanted power for the same reason, to make a positive difference".[4]

Alongside his attempts to revive the original Battlestar Galactica, Hatch created his own space opera entitled The Great War of Magellan. He has written a comic book series and a role-playing game in support of this, and is working a novel trilogy with Brad Linaweaver (who co-authored many of Hatch's Battlestar Galactica novels).[citation needed]

Hatch also appeared in InAlienable, a 2008 science fiction film written and produced by Walter Koenig. In 2011, Hatch worked on a new reality TV series called Who the Frak?, which he created and appears in as himself. The series is touted as "the world's first social network reality drama". In 2012-13, Hatch appeared in the web seriesThe Silicon Assassin Project. In 2013, he ventured into the Steampunk genre, starring in the short film Cowboys & Engines alongside Malcolm McDowell and Walter Koenig.[5] In 2014, he played the Klingon Commander Kharn in the Star Trek fan film Prelude To Axanar and will appear in the subsequent fan production Star Trek: Axanar in 2015.

Hatch has also made numerous television commercials and performed a variety of voice-overs. He is currently involved in the Star Trek fan film project Axanar and previously released short Prelude to Axanar. He plays Klingon Supreme Commander Kharn in both films.[6]